Delegates from Africa, Europe, India and China this week had an opportunity to share experience and exchange ideas on the contentious subject of global warming.
I attended the meeting, which took part on the side-lines COP17. Speakers shared concerns specific to their part of the world but related them to the global context. The African delegate was mainly worried by the fact that while the continent's contribution to carbon emission was lowest, it was the worst affected. The situation was projected to worsen.
He said the situation was worsened by lack of knowledge and technical skills on renewable sources of energy. The African representative made it clear that he believed that developed countries had a responsibility and moral obligation to promote and finance projects in less developed countries.
The European delegate admitted that multi corporations in the developed world were influential in their countries' negotiations at international conferences on climate change because they are major contributors to their gross domestic product (GDP. It was clear in this, address that large companies were largely concerned about profit and not the environment.
It is unfortunate that the owners of these companies have never experienced how it feels like to go without "basic" needs like water and food. I wish they could only understand that some of us here in Africa toil every day to access these and with increased global warming the future certainly looks bleak.